Faith Meets Bella
by ATTHS
Summary: With a puppy in the house, it's time for Faith to meet her new playmate.


Mulder woke to the sound of whining and thought for a second it was Faith crying. Sitting up, he looked at the monitor and saw she was still sleeping and knew it could not be her. Grinning, he remembered Bella was downstairs and he quickly and carefully left the bed, closing the door behind him.

Walking quietly down the stairs, he saw her in her crate and he smiled. Once she saw him, her whining increased and she began to wag her tail. Well, more like her entire body as she could not seem to control her excitement.

"Hey now… calm down there, girl. Shh. We don't need to wake the whole house, not just yet. Let me get your leash and I'll let you out." He picked up the leash and unlocked the crate, reaching for her and petting her as he clipped on the leash. "There we go. Hey, Bella. Our little ball of dark magic. Let's head outside and take a little walk."

He slid on his tennis shoes, grabbed a jacket, and opened the door. It was chilly outside, with the sun just coming up, and he smiled. Bella pulled at the leash, excited to be outside and he closed the door, heading down the stairs.

Stopping to let her pee, he put on his jacket, shivering as he did. Taking a deep breath, he looked at all the decorations that would need to come down soon. It had been a wonderful month and now it was time to look ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"You ready? Want to check out your new home? Come on, girl." He gave a gentle tug to her leash and she bounded along beside him.

They walked down the driveway and to the left, heading along the property line. Bella jumped and bounced, barking with happiness. He smiled as he watched her, thinking of what Faith was going to think of her when she woke up.

Not wanting to tire her out too much, they did not walk far. As they came back up the driveway, he looked at their fence situation and realized they would need to do something about it. It was definitely not pet friendly and losing her was not an option. One night with them and he already loved her to bits.

Stopping to let her pee once more, they walked up the stairs and he sat down on the top step to pet her. She jumped over him, into his lap, onto his other side and back again. She stood on his thigh, her front paws on his chest and licked at his face. He laughed and held her close, her little body wiggling.

"Oh, Faith is going to adore you. What do you say we go see if everyone is up yet?" She licked him again, her cold nose at his neck, and he unclipped her leash, holding her in his arms.

He opened the door and heard Faith and Scully upstairs. Scully was speaking to her in a silly voice and Faith was laughing. Bella looked at him and then cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah, we need to wait. This is a big moment. She will be your playmate for the next ten or so years. You're going to love her, I promise," he said and stood by the stairs and called up to them. "Hey, we're ready when you are."

"Oh… did you hear that, Faithy? There is a surprise for you downstairs." Mulder heard Scully say. "We'll be down in just a minute," she called down and he smiled.

He hung the leash on a hook by the coats but kept a hold of Bella, waiting until they came down to set her on the floor. Hearing Scully on the stairs, he turned around and smiled again, meeting Scully's happy eyes.

"Dada!" Faith shouted and reached for him but then noticed he was holding something in his arms. Scully came closer and Faith looked at Bella inquisitively.

"Faith, this is Bella. She's going to be part of our family now. She's a dog and she's very excited to meet you." Bella wiggled, trying to get to her, and Faith looked at him and then reached out to touch Bella.

As she did, Bella licked her hand and she pulled it back in surprise. Her eyes were large as she looked at him and he smiled with a nod.

"It's okay, honey."

She touched her again and this time Bella was calmer, for a split second anyway, before she licked her again and Faith screamed with excitement. They all laughed and sat down on the floor, letting Bella walk around and come to Faith.

Faith sat on Scully's lap and Bella barked and bounced around them. Faith stared at her and then stood up and Bella stopped bouncing and sat, impossibly still, as she stared up at her. Scully looked at Mulder and he raised his eyebrows at her. Faith squatted down and she and Bella were face-to-face.

"Mulder," Scully whispered and he nodded, aware that they were witnessing something unique.

Bella stretched her head closer and very gently licked Faith's nose, who smiled and touched Bella's head. They stared at each other and then stood up, almost as one. Bella barked and Faith laughed, clapping her hands. As Bella began to bounce around again, Faith toddled after her babbling away.

"I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't _that_. It was like they were talking to each other or… she put a spell on her," Mulder said, stunned as he watched them playing together.

"Who put the spell on whom though?" Scully asked, her tone just as incredulous.

"What?"

"Mulder, we've both noticed how animals seem to behave around her. The duck at the park, the horses at the orchard, the goat at the petting zoo,"she said and he stared at her. "What if… what if she has a way with animals?" She shrugged and he looked back at Faith, who was now chasing Bella as best as she could on unsteady feet.

"You know," he said, thinking of something that had not crossed his mind in years. "I had a friend in school, Kip Stevens-"

"Kip?" Scully asked with a smile. "Kip and Fox… such country club names."

"Yeah, shut up," he said and she laughed. "Anyway, your comment made me think of him. He always had a way with animals. He lived close to us and during the summers, he would set traps and catch animals- squirrels, rabbits, snakes. There was something about him that even wild animals calmed around him. Some of the boys teased him and called him Doctor Dolittle, but I was always fascinated by his ability to do it." Bella barked again as Faith dropped to her hands and knees and crawled after her.

"I'd say that sounds like our girl, and well, Belladonna seems to have fulfilled her namesake," she said with a cheeky grin and he nodded.

They watched them play for a couple of more minutes, each of them struck with the beauty of the obvious friendship the two would share. Rising from the floor, they set about getting breakfast ready for everyone.

Mulder took out Bella's food dish and filled it, setting it in front of her, and then set her water beside her. She ate hungrily, happily, and hurriedly. Taking out a couple of snacks, he told her to sit and when she did, he gave them to her. He smiled and rubbed her ears. Scooping her up, he grabbed her leash to take her outside once more before he joined them at the table.

As they ate, he told Scully about the fence situation and she looked at him with wide eyes.

"Oh, Mulder," she said, covering her mouth. "I didn't even think about that. Oh my God."

"Hey, it's something that's needed to be done for a while now. Even without a dog, we have a little girl who should have a proper fence to keep her safe. I'll call around… or maybe Skinner knows a guy." He shrugged and refilled both their coffees. "Until then, we do have some things we need to do, what with Faith now walking and wanting to avoid any catastrophes."

"Hmm… what are you thinking?"

"I'm glad you asked…"

A couple of hours later, they came home with some new items for the house. A stake for the yard with a twenty foot cable, allowing Bella to be outside without worrying if she would run away or become lost. After measuring the staircases on the porch and inside the house, they had bought four gates, two for the porch and two for inside, which would lock in place and keep both Faith and Bella safe.

They had also bought some different food for Bella and despite a look from Scully, he had added more toys, and a larger bed she would need eventually. He had picked up two, one for upstairs in their room, but she had put a stop to that plan.

"She has her crate, Mulder. She's used to that and if you put it in our room, it will confuse her," she had explained, and he was set to argue when she made a point he could not ignore. "Besides, I don't want to be stared at by our dog while we're having sex." She had raised her eyebrows and he had set the second bed back on the shelf, unable to argue with her logic.

Coming into the house with their new items, Bella barked, standing on her hind legs, her front paws on the crate, her tail wagging. Scully set Faith down and she walked to Bella, looking in and smiling at her. As soon as she was that close, Bella calmed down and waited for Scully to open the door, coming to Faith first and licking her hand.

"I swear to God, Mulder," Scully said as she shook her head and watched them. "It's remarkable and almost…"

"Spooky?" he teased and she shook her head.

"For lack of a better word, yes. It is damn spooky," she said, clipping the leash to Bella's collar and taking her outside to pee.

Mulder picked up Faith and grabbed the stake and cable to install outside. Setting her down in the grass, he opened the package as she toddled over to Scully. Within minutes he had it screwed into the ground and clipped Bella to it, allowing her to run and play within the set length limits. While she did not seem to mind the restrictions, it bothered him.

"You know, I'm sure Alan would know about a fence guy more so than Skinner. I'll text him," Scully said, taking out her phone and typing quickly.

"Why would he know of one more than Skinner?" he asked, frowning at her.

"He has a house, as you know, and had to have the fence put in, so it seems more likely he would know someone."

"I don't remember a fence around Alan's house."

"Around the backyard? By the hot tub?"

"Oh, I _remember_ the hot tub," he said fondly and she looked him up and down.

"Yes, the hot tub was nice," she said and he raised his eyebrows. "_Very _nice. But there was also a fence around the yard so I'm just putting out feelers. You can still ask Skinner. Mulder?"

"Hm? Sorry, I was just thinking about that hot tub. Goddamn, Scully." He shook his head and let out a breath.

"Language, Mulder." She winked and picked up Faith, kissing her cheeks and taking her inside for a nap.

Mulder tossed a ball for Bella until she, too, seemed to need a nap. He unclipped her and brought her in to sleep on the new bed they had bought, as he took out his phone to text Skinner and sat down on the couch.

"Aww, we tired them out," Scully said, sitting beside him with a smile. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. "She's really a cute dog. The fence will be pricey I know, but if we factor it in to the next ten years at least, well…" He nodded and she sighed.

"You made a good choice with Bella. We didn't have her at this time yesterday and it almost seems wrong that we didn't. She's already firmly established her place in the household. I mean, just look at that face," he said and she laughed.

"I quite agree."

"I'm glad they have both fallen in love with each other."

"_I put a spell on you…" _Scully sang quietly. "_Because you're mine." _He laughed and she lifted her head to look at him. "Guess the version."

"Of that song? Please… do you even know me? Annie Lennox of course, even if CCR sang it first." She looked impressed and he raised his hands in a shrug. "Come on, at least challenge me." He shook his head and she smiled.

"I have a challenge for you," she said in a low sultry voice, biting her lip as she turned and straddled him, snaking her arms around his neck. "I'm not sure you can handle the task at hand, but I trust you will try your very best." She shifted in his lap and he groaned.

"What's the challenge?"

"Hmmm. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Scully… I can handle _anything_," he said, his hands around her waist.

"Well, you think you can handle four times?" she purred and his eyes widened.

"Before she wakes up? I… I don't know, but I'll give it the old college try," he said, smirking at her, as his hands began to move lower.

"Great, I'll go get the tools." And with that, she abruptly climbed off his lap, leaving him stunned. "I mean those gates won't put themselves up." She started to walk out of the room, grinning at him over her shoulder.

"Oh, you tricky little minx," he said, standing up and adjusting his pants. Her laughter rang in his ears, as he followed behind her, ready to do her bidding.


End file.
